Pretty or Ugly?
Pink tree tops reflecting the setting sun
Or
Plastic scraps caught on the fingers of trees?
Stars on a wintery night, glistening like crystals
Or
Dreary cold, dead silence and frostbite?
Sun rays peeking through sleepy woods, glinting off melting puddles
Or
Muddy booby traps waiting to get stuck on your shoes?
A church hill painted red
A Christmas tree farm
Abandoned antiques
Warm gold and shadow intermingling with one another on barren grass
Or
Dead grass?
Frozen lakes, old wooden bird houses
Or
Abandoned homes?
Unkempt lists of incomplete fragments jotted down to return to when time allows
Or
Diamond thoughts left unsaid, unheard, and unloved.
Thinking in and of itself is a type of art form good or bad
Looking in from the outside always makes things look more exciting
It’s not as pretty once you’re inside
Telling only one side of the story, woven by eloquent lies
A house alive with green and purple amongst drab gray shacks
Or
Abandoned buildings falling apart, being taken over by green.
The urgency of players in a basketball game
Or
Dirt under your fingernails.
Fading round smoky circle in the blue sky
Or
Pointless observation.
Realizing human connection is all we have.
Learning the nature of oblivion.
Becoming one with the world in isolation.
Droplets leaking down grimy tear streaked faces, fed up with inequality. Voices screaming their anguish
Or
Peace.
People trapped, glued to a slab a metal fit to you palm, mesmerized by blue light frequency
Or
Freedom.
Pretty or ugly
Or
Ugly
Or
Pretty?
"How much do you love me
On a scale of 1 to 10?"
you ask.
How can I measure my feelings
In a calibration so calculated
And cold?
A scale would give you a number
But words would tell you what I mean
What does it even mean to say I love you?
That you’ll send me presents on my birthday
Whisper sweet words when nothing feels okay?
Travel to the moon and back
Promise me the stars?
Buy me a boat, horse, fast cars
Or would this transaction surpass monetary action?
I’d love you even if we lived on nothing but potatoes.
Will you squeeze me so tight
To make up after a big fight?
Know all of my little habits and quirks
Staying with me despite them
And making long distances work?
If that is so
Then I’d say that is the scale
I love you this much, I say
Holding out my arms, widespread
It doesn’t seem much to you, but it is my whole being and body
A scale would give you a number
But words would tell you what I mean
Now tell me, On a scale of 1 to 10
How much do you love me?
The end of the world
Time stands still
When the world stops working
Maybe this is what it feels like
To be immortal
Endless waiting
For the world to start again
The cold doesn’t hurt
Dead dreams do
Have ice cream for breakfast -who cares?
The world is ending
I used to think everything happens for a reason
Maybe the world is just cruel
Playing me for a fool
Call out sick from work -who cares?
The world is ending
Why can’t we just let the world stop?
Why do we always have to keep moving? It’s funny.
We get what we want then complain there’s nothing to pass the time.
Kiss and fuck whoever you want -nobody should care
The world is ending
No one posts on social media anymore. There’s no one to see it. A like is a glimmer of hope, there’s someone else out there. Alive
Eat that potato chip -there’s nobody here to show off a beach body to
The world is ending
The cold doesn’t hurt
Dead dreams do
Been waiting for that fairytale story
But real life doesn’t have happy endings
-my god the world is ending
We say it’s not fair, but a plague
Doesn’t care for justice. Or maybe
We are the virus
And it is the cure
Pretty or Ugly?
Pink tree tops reflecting the setting sun
Or
Plastic scraps caught on the fingers of trees?
Stars on a wintery night, glistening like crystals
Or
Dreary cold, dead silence and frostbite?
Sun rays peeking through sleepy woods, glinting off melting puddles
Or
Muddy booby traps waiting to get stuck on your shoes?
A church hill painted red
A Christmas tree farm
Abandoned antiques
Warm gold and shadow intermingling with one another on barren grass
Or
Dead grass?
Frozen lakes, old wooden bird houses
Or
Abandoned homes?
Unkempt lists of incomplete fragments jotted down to return to when time allows
Or
Diamond thoughts left unsaid, unheard, and unloved.
Thinking in and of itself is a type of art form good or bad
Looking in from the outside always makes things look more exciting
It’s not as pretty once you’re inside
Telling only one side of the story, woven by eloquent lies
A house alive with green and purple amongst drab gray shacks
Or
Abandoned buildings falling apart, being taken over by green.
The urgency of players in a basketball game
Or
Dirt under your fingernails.
Fading round smoky circle in the blue sky
Or
Pointless observation.
Realizing human connection is all we have.
Learning the nature of oblivion.
Becoming one with the world in isolation.
Droplets leaking down grimy tear streaked faces, fed up with inequality. Voices screaming their anguish
Or
Peace.
People trapped, glued to a slab a metal fit to you palm, mesmerized by blue light frequency
Or
Freedom.
Pretty or ugly
Or
Ugly
Or
Pretty?
Anxiety is a grey tornado
Anxiety is the color grey. Not quite black not quite white, ever indecisive, the blurry gradient down the middle. It's inconlusive existence spins itself on its head, upside down. The colors of life blotted out by its shadow, sucked into a tornado. Tell me, how do you make it out of this infinite feedback loop?
Answering Nature’s Call
There it lies, beside the river bank, attracting flies.
In a lump of brown and black
The aroma would give even a skunk a heart attack.
It was planted
in a time of desperation,
A moment of weakness.
I just could not hold it in.
Crouching there above the leaves,
My bottom naked and vulnerable,
I frantically looked for a material to wipe with.
I even contemplated using my sleeve.
I found the cleanest leaf I could find --
You must understand, I really was in quite a grind.
Pinch, wipe,
Drip dry.
Never again
Will I leave the house
Without a roll of two-ply.
This Time of Year
I remember Christmas,
As a child wide awake and wired the night before,
Looking for a chance to spot Santa,
And waking up to presents galore.
I remember Christmas,
Sprinkling reindeer "chow,"
And admiring its sparkling
On the crystalline snow.
I remember Christmas,
And shimmering in the moonlight,
The white snow
Was a bedazzling sight.
I remember Christmas,
When I still believed magic was in the air,
When I believed fate
Was good and fair.
I remember Christmas,
When I thought the world was mine for the taking,
When I thought there was more
To the hustling and bustling, shopping and baking.
Again, now it is Christmas,
And no one can thoroughly explain why we're all here,
So, we might as well let go of all our hate and greed,
And spread love, generosity, thankfulness, and cheer
To all across the planet,
This time of year.